


Papercut Pansy

by luxwrites



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gay Keith (Voltron), Happy Ending, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Insecure Lance (Voltron), It's gonna be okay though, Keith just wants lance to say when he's hurt, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Langst, M/M, but it's comin, eventually, it's not in the first chapter, two bros chilling in the same room on top of each other cause theyre gay as f
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-20
Packaged: 2018-12-31 03:55:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12123993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luxwrites/pseuds/luxwrites
Summary: Keith gasped as Lance reluctantly peeled off his shirt. Lance groaned as he reached his arms up to pull the material over his head.“Lance, you-“ Keith could only stare at the deep purple bruises and multiple gouges in Lance’s back. Tears sprung to his eyes, but he held them back to stare into Lance’s ocean-blue eyes. “Lance, you didn’t even say anything.”Wherein Lance is a terrible whiner when it comes to minor injuries, and Keith often makes fun of him for it. No big deal, Keith kind of thinks it’s funny that Lance is so dramatic about papercut-sized injuries. Except eventually Lance gets an injury that’s not a papercut anymore, and he is surprisingly good at hiding it for once.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Lance is so full of bravado, but he has this sneaky grittiness to him that when he's seriously injured, he doesn't want anyone to know. idk. Sad Lance and Keith but it'll have my typical happy ending because life is sad enough. I'll try to get the next part up within the next couple days, but go yell at me on tumblr if it's not up by Thursday

“I’ve been shot! I’m dying! I’m bleeding out on the floor of this godforsaken castle, farewell cruel world, it’s been nice knowing you! Keith, if I don’t make it back alive, tell my parents-“  
“Lance, stop being a baby. It was a shirt, not a bullet,” Keith said.  
Lance barely registered Keith’s comment, opting instead to scoop up the shirt, cradling it against his side like a rag to stop the invisible bleeding. It was no surprise Lance had been a drama kid before he joined the garrison.  
Keith rolled his eyes at Lance, smiling internally. “And stop stuffing your shirts into my laundry. One of these days I just won’t wash them and then you’ll be stuck wearing dirty shirts forever.”  
Lance grinned at that. “Keith, if you want me to be dirty all you have to do is say so,” He said, sneaking his way over to Keith and tugging on the back of his hair. “I’m starting to like this now, what are you doing to me, Mullet?”  
Keith just smirked and ducked out of Lance’s hold, marching back out of the observation deck. Lance was… Well, Lance was dramatic, but Keith knew the only reason he _really_ complained was because he knew it made everyone chuckle.  
Keith was just about at the door of his room when he heard a distinct footfall echoing behind him.  
“Hey, Keith!” Lance jogged up to him. “Can we- can we play cards?” Lance’s stutter wasn’t altogether unexpected. His bravado always cracked a little bit around Keith (something Keith prided himself on, because it was those moments where Keith actually got a brief look at another layer of Lance).  
Playing cards was how they had started this… _thing_ of theirs in the first place. The castle had been powered down so that Coran could run diagnostics over all of the tech. Lance, much to Keith’s amusement, really hated the dark. So Lance had made his way over to Keith’s room and Lance and Keith had sat and played cards the whole time.  
_Almost_ the whole time. At some point, both of them were exhausted, but enjoying each other’s company enough to not want to fall asleep, Lance had just leaned over and put his head on Keith’s shoulder, letting his arm wrap around Keith’s back while Keith let his hand fall to Lance’s thigh. The kiss had been quiet and sweet and soft and everything they each needed it to be.  
From then on “playing cards” was just a cover for “make-out with me.” Keith had discovered Lance was actually a more physical being than he’d originally thought, not that Keith minded. But he still found it funny that Lance stuttered over his words every time.  
“Yes, Lance, let’s play cards,” Keith whispered before pulling the other paladin into his room and letting the door slide shut with a satisfying _click_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets in a bit of a tussle but nobody realizes it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, I can't believe this has had so many kudos and comments and hits in a single day. Wow. Just wow. Thanks everyone, have part two.

“Lance?” Keith shouted into his comms. Voltron had landed on the surface of the planet, disbanding and exiting their lions with the intent to greet the planet’s inhabitants and encourage revolt against the galra empire. A diplomatic mission. Or so they’d thought.  
Instead, once they’d exited their lions and greeted the inhabitants, a huge hord of galra fighter ships had appeared, shooting on sight. Shiro, Keith and Pidge had all made it back to their lions, but Hunk and Lance had taken on herding the terrified villagers to safety.  
On the way back to their lions, Hunk and Lance had been separated, with only the former now in his lion and flying with the others. From the sky, there was no sign of the blue paladin. The tension over the comms was palpable, and everyone could feel Keith’s adrenaline spike when they realized something was wrong. The mind-meld was useful and terrifying in moments like these.  
“Keith, we have to deal with these ships,” Shiro’s voice sounded in Keith’s ear through his helmet. “Lance can hold his own, only a few galra made it to the ground. But if we don’t take these ships out, the situation down there will only get worse.”  
Shiro was right, of course. _When was he ever wrong?_ So Keith stuffed down the rage and desperation that he couldn’t run to Lance’s aid and helped in the only way he could.  
His lion moved like fire through the exploding galra ships as he poured all his attention on the battle in the air. If even one more ship made it to the ground, that meant another galra for Lance to deal with. The Red lion dove and dodged and blasted at lightning speed while the rest of the team covered him.  
Slowly, _so slowly_ , the galra ships dwindled, and the few that remained whizzed off into the distance universe. When the last ship turned tail and ran, Keith was the first to take his lion to the ground.  
“Lance?!” He couldn’t help shouting again. The desperation he’d shoved down was back now in full force. “Lance, where are you?!” No answer. “LANCE YOU DUMBASS ANSWER ME!”  
“Hey, that’s my insult,” came a low whisper over the comms. Every paladin sighed in relief.  
“Lance, what’s your location?” Shiro asked, landing beside Keith on the ground.  
“Ah, I’m over a hill, I’ll be there in a sec. Some galra sucker thought he could get to the village. I proved him wrong, though. Lance McClain, sharpshooter extraordinaire.” Keith sighed in relief that Lance was still his joking self. He must be fine if he was cracking jokes, right?  
“You weren’t on comms for the entire fight, Lance, you good buddy?” Hunk asked.  
“Oh, weird, they must’ve cut out for some reason. I’m good though! Great, even! Hey, everybody can call me Lance the Great from now on.”  
“Well, I’m glad you’re alright Lance,” Coran’s voice rang in everyone’s ears, “because we’re goin to need some time to get enough power back in the castle to power up the healing pods again! We were up here fighting a warship and had to use everything we’ve got!” The paladins all groaned. Sure, they weren’t _really_ injured, but a couple minutes in the healing pods fixed up any cuts or bruises and made recovery time from a battle way faster.  
Lance crested the hill, a couple cuts on his face, and his paladin armour barely hanging on at the shoulders, but with a grin on his face. Every paladin let out a breath they didn’t know they’d been holding, running to Lance and slapping him on the shoulder before pulling him into a huge group hug. They were all just glad he was okay. None of them noticed the extra moisture in Lance’s eyes or the way he flinched on contact.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith figures out Lance is hurt. They fight a bit. They cry a bit. Lance gets fixed up. Yay yay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support everyone. Truly, as great as hits are, it's the kudos and comments and bookmarks and subscriptions that get me really excited to keep churning out chapters quickly! Love to you all, enjoy that last chapter!

When the team reached the castle, they all poured into the kitchen, devouring the goo Coran had set out for them without even sitting at the table. The only paladin not stuffing his face with food (if you could call it that) was Lance. He was picking at his plate with a fork, a strange, unfamiliar expression on his face. Keith made eye contact, raising an eyebrow in silent question, but Lance just ducked his head and excused himself with a “well, the Great Lance McClain needs sleep.”  
Keith frowned. Lance was always hungry after a battle. He would eat almost as much as Hunk, space goo or not. Barely a minute and a thought later, Keith excused himself as well, leaving the rest of his goo to Hunk.  
Keith jogged through the castle on the way to Lance’s room, but when he arrived, he found it empty. Confused, he gradually wound his way to his own room, opening the door and stepping in. Like always, it closed behind him with a loud _click_. Except this time, Lance was rooting through Keith’s bathroom and had a bottle of rubbing alcohol and bandages in one of his hands.  
“Uh… Lance?” Keith’s voice reverberated back to him through the sheer panic on Lance’s face. The blue paladin looked like a rattlesnake backed into a corner for several seconds before suddenly his gates slammed shut and he had a mask of _it’s cool_ firmly in place. Keith was still trying to figure out what was going on.  
“Hey, Keith, my buddy, my true love, my fellow fighter,” Lance really liked nicknames when he was nervous. Keith knew this, of course, but he also didn’t want to spook Lance back into rattlesnake mode. “I just had a little scrape I wanted to fix up, sorry for rooting around in your bathroom, pal-io, I’m just gonna- duck out now.”  
Lance had been inching his way around Keith, practically glued to the walls, but now he darted for the door. Keith reached out a gentle hand, placing it on Lance’s arm as the door slid open. The softness of the touch made Lance pause long enough for the door to slide shut again.  
“Lance,” Keith’s voice was quiet but firm, “What are you doing?”  
Painfully slowly, Lance turned to face Keith, but his eyes wouldn’t meet Keith’s. They stayed trained on the floor.  
“’m just fixing myself up…” Lance mumbled to the shiny plastic tiles.  
Keith knew Lance well enough now that he knew to tread the next few moments very carefully. Lance was rarely ashamed about anything, whatever this was was big.  
“Lance,” Keith slowly raised his hand, making sure Lane could see it the entire time, using it to caress Lance’s face. Gradually, he coaxed Lance’s gaze off the floor. The blue paladin finally stepped closer, pressing himself lightly against Keith, leaning his head on Keith’s shoulder, burying a warm nose into Keith’s cold neck. Keith was about to make a move to wrap his arms around Lance, but Lance spoke first.  
“Don’t-“ Lance sighed wearily, “Don’t touch my back. Please.” The desperation in his voice rose as his volume diminished to a whisper.  
“Lance,” Keith tried again, “Show me. Please?”  
Keith waited patiently, listening to Lance’s breathing, knowing the blue paladin was deciding in this moment if now was the time to trust Keith completely. Sex was one thing, bikering was another, long in-depth talks about their childhoods was yet another. But stripping away the jokes and letting Keith see pain was something Keith didn’t know if Lance was ready for yet. It would be his choice.  
After what felt like an eternity, Lance stepped back, unstrapping his paladin armour and letting it fall to the floor with a _clang_. He met Keith’s eyes for a moment and then reached for his shirt.  
Keith gasped as Lance reluctantly peeled off his shirt. Lance groaned as he reached his arms up to pull the material over his head.  
“Lance, you-“ Keith could only stare at the deep purple bruises and multiple gouges in Lance’s back. Tears sprung to his eyes, but he held them back to stare into Lance’s ocean-blue eyes. “Lance, you didn’t even say anything.”  
“Yeah, I dunno, I didn’t want to bug anyone I guess…” Lance was back to mumbling, his eyes trained on the floor. Keith wanted to yell so loud he’d shatter the eardrums of every galra in the empire. Lance’s smooth skin, that Keith had _just seen_ the night before was marred with painful bruises and cuts.  
“ _BUG US?!_ ” Keith exploded, “LANCE WE ARE A TEAM, HOW COULD YOU NOT BRING THIS UP, ARE YOU THAT DUMB?”  
Keith realized his mistake as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Lance was already crying, shiny streaks staining his cheeks. Heavy silence enveloped the room. Every few seconds, Lance would snuffle in this way that made Keith want to go back in time and change his mind about leaving Earth. After a particularly aggressive snuffle, Lance broke the silence, as he was wont to do.  
“The healing pods are down. I could fix this myself. I’ve done it before.” Lance was defensive now, his words coming short and quick. Gone were the tear tracks.  
“You’ve done this before?!?!” Keith was pissed. Lance was a valued member of this team, there was no way any of them would even hesitate to patch him up after a battle.  
“Yeah, I have, _Keith_ ,” Lance spat out, “I’m not bringing down the mood of this team after a rough battle. That’s not happening. So yeah. I fix myself up. Alone. And I’ll do it again if I have to.”  
Lance picked up his shirt from the floor, but the wince he made upon standing up was too much for Keith.  
“Lance, I-“ Keith tried, but a couple tears were starting to fall from his eyes, and he couldn’t help the way his voice caught when Lance stared at him, looking startled. In two short steps, Lance had his arms wrapped around Keith again, leaning into his chest.  
Careful not to touch any bruises or open wounds, Keith squeezed his shoulders and then stepped back, keeping his hands on Lance, but turning him around so Keith could see the extent of the damage. He gasped again upon seeing it right in front of him.  
“I’m really glad you came to my room, Lance,” Keith murmured in Lance’s ear. “Is it okay if _I_ patch you up this time? It’ll be neater.”  
Lance’s sigh was huge.  
“Yes,” he said, “please.”  
Lance sat on the corner of the bed with Keith behind him. As Keith carefully patched Lance up, he asked Lance the details of what had really happened on the planet.  
“I was running back to my lion. All the villagers seemed safe, but then I looked back to check and I saw one last galra on his way to the caves, so I ran after him. He-“ Lance paused, embarrassment creeping back into his voice for a moment. Keith stopped what he was doing and squeezed Lance’s shoulder in encouragement.  
“He was faster than I expected. Most of the galra are really strong but kind of slow-moving. This guy took me buy surprise. He managed to slice my armour so bad it fell off, and then he kicked me down, and- and it wasn’t much fun from there. I, uh… I turned off my comms so you guys wouldn’t hear.” Keith made a noise of protest, but Lance beat him to it.  
“Yeah, I know, but don’t pretend you didn’t need all four of you up there to get the rest of those ships away. Besides, one of the villagers came and distracted him long enough that I could get back up and get him in the back with my bayard. But you guys needed me in the air, so I just stuck my armour back together as best I could and started running back. Usually I can slip into the pods at some point and just heal myself up, but I guess that won’t really be an option right now.”  
“Wow,” Keith didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t realized Lance had been suffering so silently, but now that he thought about it, he did remember Lance disappearing for a while after a couple battles.  
“Yeah,” Lance trailed off.  
Keith finally finished with the last bandage.  
“I’m done here. But you have to promise me you’ll talk to Coran about getting those pods back up as soon as possible,” Keith said, turning Lance around to face him again. Lance nodded, looking right back at Keith. Keith let his hand brush along Lance’s neck and shoulder.  
“You know, you act like a shirt I throw at you is a bullet, and then you pretend a galra attack is nothing. I don’t get it, Lance.”  
Lance shrugged, and then winced in regret. “I don’t want you to think I can’t deal with things on my own. I just… wanted to be tough. Like everyone else on the team.”  
Keith almost laughed. Lance frowned, so Keith elaborated.  
“Lance, you're a defender of the universe,” Keith said, “No one in this Universe could deny the toughness of Voltron’s sharpshooter.” Keith could see Lance starting to smile. “Not even me.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh this took me so long to upload I'm sorry! But I'm decently happy with it now, sort of. idk. Lemme know what y'all think. I have another few ideas for voltron fics, so please lemme know if you liked it!


End file.
